Kā Kaupapa o te Wā
What’s On
Raymond McIntyre: A Modernist View
Dynamic and progressive paintings and woodcuts from one of Aotearoa’s New Zealand foremost modernist artists.
Living Archives
Archives that tell stories about artists and history in Aotearoa
Whāia te Taniwha
Māori artists consider the enduring relevance of taniwha in Aotearoa.
E tuwhera ana te wharetoi i kā rā e 7 o te wiki, 10am - 5pm
Ka tuwhera ki te 9pm i kā pō Wenerei
Open 7 days, 10am - 5pm
Late night Wednesday until 9pm
Uruka utukore, ahokore utukore
Free entry, free wifi
Collection
Evelyn Page Governor's Bay
With its use of strong colour, flattened forms and elevated perspective, this painting of Ōhinetahi / Governors Bay by Evelyn Page signals the emergence for this leading Christchurch-born artist of a modern approach to landscape painting. It also connects to her story, as a location with which she had a strong relationship. This work was painted before Page left for Europe in 1936. She returned two years later with Lyttelton-born musician Frederick Page, and they were married in peaceful Ōhinetahi, where they lived for the next eight years.
(Te Wheke, 2020)
Collection
Ivy Fife Low-tide
Ivy Fife’s bird’s eye view of the hills and tidal bay mudflats at the head of Te Whakaraupō / Lyttelton Harbour includes a glimpse of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa / the Pacific Ocean beyond. The composition includes many sites of historical and cultural significance, the earliest of these for Ngāti Māmoe and Ngāi Tahu. For Pākehā artists like Fife, it became a place of increasing identification and belonging.
(Te Wheke, 2020)
Collection
Fiona Pardington A69170
The object at the centre of this work tells a story of displacement and translation. Fiona Pardington came across it in London’s Wellcome Collection, as one of several similar objects with uncertain and complicated histories. It resembles a heitiki, the spiritually significant Māori pounamu (greenstone) pendant traditionally worn close to the heart, but there’s something not quite right about it. It is likely to have been produced in the late nineteenth century, possibly by a Pākehā or German maker, for the keen international market that had developed for curios from the Pacific. Pardington reclaims this appropriated object, heightening its strangeness by letting it shimmer in a space of doubt and possibility.
(Te Wheke, 2020)
Collection
Robyn Kahukiwa My Ancestors Are Always with Me
A self-taught artist, Robyn Kahukiwa holds an important place in contemporary Māori art. Although primarily painting for a Māori audience, the universal appeal of her work has made her one of Aotearoa's leading painters, producing powerful works that reflect Māori culture and identity.Behind the central figure outlined in white are two other figures, male and female, with their children between their legs. In traditional Māori carving this composition represents whakapapa (genealogy). Apart from the gold paint – gold being the art historical indicator for the spiritual realm – Kahukiwa has used colours that are traditional in Māori art.
(Te Wheke, 2020)
Collection
John Pule Not of This Time (Dreamland)
“The sky is second only to the sea as a mass that fills my imagination with awe.” —John Pule
John Pule was born in Niue and at a young age moved with his parents to Tāmakimakaurau / Auckland. He returned to his home country as an artist, poet and writer in 1991. Inventive in his adaptation of traditional art forms, Pule’s work considers Pacific and migrant cultures, often provocatively. In this work, the blue clouds may also be islands. He says:Blue is associated with travel, knowledge, family and scenes from the Bible, but mostly the blue is the Pacific. The Pacific collects and shares all that we know about ourselves. In that period of cloud paintings I incorporated Niue creation stories, islands, the ocean (especially crossing the Pacific going to Niue or from elsewhere to Aotearoa).
(Te Wheke, 2020)
Notes
Public programmes take centre stage at the Gallery this spring
Visitors to the Gallery will be spoilt for choice this month, with some of the best art in New Zealand on display alongside a rich calendar of public programmes.
In addition to amazing art and exhibitions, our impressive spring events calendar brings together a range of artist talks, films and activities, so there’s bound to be something for everyone to enjoy.
Notes
Cosmo has a new friend
This is a new pal for our Cosmo McMurtry. It was made by Laura who's 11 and lives in Auckland. Ka pai, Laura!
